Browse Category: yum

Spa Day

Last June I purchased a Groupon for Teresa for her birthday.  Now that I’m no longer preggo and it’s 2 weeks from her wedding, we thought it would be the perfect time to redeem!  It was a Groupon for a 50-minute pedicure and 30-minute massage at I-Spa at the Intercontinental Hotel for $65 per person.  It’s a pretty fancy spa and this Groupon turned out to be an awesome deal.

Before our first appointment, we met up at Luce for brunch at 11:00 am.  I had the smoked salmon eggs benedict and it was delicious…especially because I wasn’t allowed to have smoked salmon for 9 months.  We also got mimosas and that was equally tasty.

At 12:30 pm, we headed upstairs to the spa and they gave us robes, slippers, and complimentary champange.  Yes!  The pedicure at 1:00 was so nice and now my toes are ready for my role as bridesmaid in two weeks.  We then had about an hour to just sit and relax.  The massage was at 3:00 pm and the lady got all the kinks out of my neck and shoulders.  Aaah…so nice.

That was such a fun day and it was the first time I had been away from Kumquat for so long – 6 hours!!  My mom also went shopping at the mall so Jes was on Kumquat duty including a bottle feeding.  Looked like it wasn’t so bad so it was a super win for me!

What a treat!

On Saturday night, Jes and I had a “date night”, which somehow felt a little more special than the Tuesday dinners that we used to have.   We went to Atelier Crenn, which is one of those places that I’ve had on my list of restaurants to try.  We’ve been to her first restaurant, Luce, and have had really good experiences there with her tastings.  I also met Chef Crenn at one of the “Plate by Plate” events and she’s a really cool lady.  Our reservation was originally at 10pm but we got a call at 8:30 letting us know that they had an earlier opening so we got there by 9:15.  We chose the 5-course tasting menu (estimated at about 2 hours) instead of the “Grand Tasting” (3.5-4 hours). It was so nice to be able to tell the server that I had no dietary restrictions. Aaah. We also shared a wine pairing so that meant I got my very own half-pour of about 5 different wines. 😉 I was so giddy during the entire meal.  Each dish was so thoughtful and creative and so yummy.  Of course we ended up getting more than 5 courses and we were home by midnight.  Here are a couple of my favorite dishes:

She called this one “walk in the forest” and consisted of 4 different mushrooms and an interesting toasted marshmallow on the side.

I can’t remember what this one was called but doesn’t it look like a huge beet on dirt?  Well, it was actually beet sorbet (orb in the middle) with the “root” made of chocolate over a bed of chocolate, oats, and other tasty stuff.  It sounds (and looks) really weird but it was sooooo delicious and something I’ve never had before. Yum.  And of course, I cleaned the plate.  Heh heh.

Thanks for hanging out with Kumquat, Mommy!

My First Mother’s Day

I had a very special Mother’s Day this year.  It was my first Mother’s Day as a mom and my mom was also around to celebrate with me.  The morning started out with the usual feeding and diaper routine and luckily Kumquat was on her best behavior that morning.  By 9:30, my mom and I were out the door and Jes was on his own for a couple hours.  That morning, I took my mom to Tiptoes for a pedicure and it was pretty busy at the 10:00 hour.

The pedicure was nice and the experience was even better with my trashy celebrity mag and a couple sips of the complimentary mimosa that they gave me.  Aaaah…  We also had enough time afterward to swing by Sports Basement to buy my mom a North Face rain jacket.

After feeding Kumquat again at home, I left the house again and met up with Michelle and Vyl at Bluestem Brasserie for a bite to eat and some girl time.  It was nice to catch up with friends and I was able to stay out for at least 2 hours before Kumquat woke up again.  Nice!

For dinner, Jes and I took my mom to Hillstone (again!) for a yummy steak dinner.  They each had a grilled rib eye and I had prime rib cooked to a tasty Medium Rare.  We also got to order the smoked salmon, which we hadn’t had since before I was pregnant.  We brought Kumquat along to dinner and she slept through the whole meal and didn’t wake until we got home.

I gotta say that I had a wonderful 1st Mother’s Day.

Here are two photos that my dad sent me last week.

September 1975

May 2012

It’s a photo of my mom holding me when I was born and then one of my mom holding Kumquat 36 years later.  Thank goodness my baby is so much cuter than I was as a baby.  Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy.  You’re the best!

 

Family Time

We had a lot of family time this weekend. It was a very warm 78 degrees this weekend in SF and perfect for having visitors.

Brother, Joy, and my dad were here for a long weekend since Thursday.  We spent a lot of time just hanging out together in our usual way…eating, napping, and making fun of each other. The dog also seemed to enjoy the company.

It’s just too bad that I’ve become the boring sister that can’t leave the house for longer than 2 hours at a time.  They still managed to make their way around the city and Oakland and they even brought back some cookies for me from Bakesale Betty.

Jes’ parents drove up late on Friday and came over on Saturday to visit their granddaughter and to also bring me a special ginger soup containing pork knuckle, lots of vinegar, and of course ginger.  It’s supposed to help me with my postpartum recovery and they were very eager for me to have some this week.  Jes’ mom had never made it before and it wasn’t bad.  It was just VERY rich since it was half collagen from the bone marrow that had cooked off.

We also had a visit from my cousin Ishya, Billy, her twins, and my uncle and aunt as well.  The house was filled with babies and I had a fun time catching up with everyone.  Joy also got a lesson on feeding a distracted 5-month-old.

I attempted to take a photo of Kumquat and the twins together but of course I have a child that will sleep through anything.  Look at her…fast asleep without a care in the world despite 7 adults making noises and faces to get their attention.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Yesterday I went out for all three meals.  With Kumquat being a little more consistent with her naps, I’ve been able to get away for about 2 hours at a time.  My mom was nice enough to be home yesterday to keep an eye on her while I hung out with Brother and Joy.

In the morning, I picked up Brother from the hotel and we drove to Tartine Bakery.  I scored a winner spot right out front and we waited in line for only 10 minutes before it got really long.  I picked up some Morning Buns, a bacon and leek quiche, and a couple coconut macaroons for my mom.  They were all deeelicious.

For lunch, we went to Bangkok Thai for some noodles and it really hit the spot for everyone.

In the evening, I got to go to my first Happy Hour in over a month.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to drink yet but it was nice to be out with friends.

We celebrated Jimmy’s birthday a couple days early at Jones and I had a good time eating and catching up with people.

I actually stayed out for almost 3 hours and got home just in time for Kumquat to wake up.  Nice timing!

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts.  In the morning, Brother, Joy, and my dad arrived from LA and Kumquat met her uncle and auntie for the first time.

Once she was fed and changed, we took a walk to the Ferry Plaza for lunch.  That meant leaving Kumquat with Jes by himself for about 2 hours.  This was the first time I had left her for a good chunk of time and it was Jes’ first time with her alone for that long too.  I had just enough time to order, eat my lunch, and grab a couple treats before getting a text from Jes: “Where da boob at?” and a photo of Kumquat with a red face.  I hurried home and as I was waiting to cross the street from the Muni platform to my house, I got a second text: “Better double time.” with a photo of her crying.  By the time I walked through the door, she had cried herself to sleep.

In the afternoon, my mom and dad went to dinner with Brother and Joy and it was time for me to try walking the dog with the baby in the stroller at the same time all by myself.  Luckily, the baseball crowd had thinned and Koa was well-behaved.  Phew, it looks like this will be doable after all.

For dinner, Jes and I left the baby with my mom and dad as soon as I fed her.  We went to Hillstone (formerly Houston’s) and I finally got to order my favorite salad: seared ahi tuna with greens, mango, and avocado.  I was so happy to have raw tuna again.  I also got a few bites of Jes rib-eye that was cooked to Medium Rare.  Mmmmm…it’s been so long.  It was particularly good with a few sips of his red wine too.  Oh how I’ve missed you, red wine!  We also had enough time for dessert…key lime pie.  🙂  When we got home, over 2 hours had passed and Kumquat was still sleeping!  Good baby!